Presentation Rationale Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to inform others of the dangers of distracted driving and to persuade them to avoid practices that lead to distracted driving. This presentation will specifically show how cases of distracted driving accidents and near crashes are on the rise and how our increasing use of technology is a major contributing factor. The presentation will also show that these figures are especially high in young drivers. The goal is to have the audience take away an understanding of how attempting to focus on anything other than the road while behind the wheel is a dangerous act not only to themselves but for others as well. Intended Audience: My ideal audience for this presentation would be drivers under the age of thirty. However this information is beneficial to anyone of driving age with an interest in learning how to reduce their risk of being involved in an accident or near accident, and who is interested in understanding how distracted driving is a contributing …show more content…
In August 2007 a technical report was compiled entitled An Investigation of the Effects of Reading and Writing Text-Based Messages While Driving (Cooper, Yager, & Chrysler, 2007). This report was assembled for the Texas Transportation Institute. at Texas A&M University. In this study 42 subjects participated ranging in age from 16-54. The study measured the problems created by texting while driving a real vehicle on a closed course and was measured in three different ways. Control: no texts sent or received, Writing: composing a text on their device, and Reading: driver reading a story on their device. Analysis of the collected test data showed that participant reaction times were significantly slowed when writing or reading text messages, and that writing text messages impaired the driver’s reaction times even more than reading. These tests showed slowed responses to light changes, deviations in speed and deviations in lane